Charles Galdies and Abigail Cutajar
The world has just been handed another stark climate warning. The latest report from the World Meteorological Organisation, published on March 23rd, confirms that the planet continues to heat at an alarming pace. One of the clearest messages in this year’s report is that climate change is no longer measured solely by air temperature. The report shows a planet is storing more excess heat than at any point in recorded history, with a new peak in Earth’s energy imbalance reached in 2025. Only 1% of that trapped energy warms the air we directly feel, while around 91% is absorbed by the ocean, which also hit a record high in heat content.
We write this article as we want to make it clear that, for Malta, this isn’t just a story happening elsewhere; it’s a reality we’re already experiencing on our streets, farms, in our homes, and on our seas. In fact, the second key message from the WMO is that the wider region around Malta is heading in the wrong direction, as 2025 was one of the hottest years ever recorded. Additionally, its European climate findings show that Europe is the fastest-warming continent, and the Mediterranean Sea was exceptionally warm, with annual sea-surface temperature 1.2°C above average.
That is the larger climate backdrop against which Malta’s own warming, drying and rising exposure to extremes must now be understood. As researchers and policy professionals who have spent years working on these questions, reading the data and watching the indicators shift, we can clearly say that what we are seeing locally is not an isolated fluctuation. It is part of a deepening regional pattern. Hotter seas, more stressful heat, greater strain on our water, agriculture and health sectors, and a narrowing margin for delay.
We have all experienced Maltese summers grow harder to ignore, not just as statistics, but as lived reality. The kind of July and August heat that now settles over the islands for weeks at a stretch. If anyone in Malta still believes climate change is mainly a problem for distant places, melting ice or future generations, that illusion deserves a respectful but firm correction. This is not someone else’s emergency. It is ours. And sitting as we do in the middle of the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s most clearly identified climate hotspots, the signal is sharper here than almost anywhere in Europe. That is also why the Malta Climate Action Authority is prioritising work on its adaptation plan.
We embarked on this because Malta’s own records have already told this story. An NSO publication on the State of Malta’s Climate, based on long-term observations, has shown that the islands are becoming warmer, drier, and increasingly prone to extreme events. Temperatures have risen. Rainfall has declined. The WMO report does not introduce a new reality for Malta but rather confirms that our local experience fits a much larger regional and global pattern.
That should end the temptation to treat Malta as if it were too small to matter. Small islands do not escape climate change because of their size. In many ways, they are made more vulnerable by it. Malta is densely populated, heavily urbanised, and deeply dependent on resources that climate change can easily and rapidly disrupt. Smallness, in this case, is not protection. It is exposure.
One of the clearest areas where this exposure is becoming apparent is agriculture. A hotter, drier climate spells bad news for any farming system, especially one already facing land and water constraints. At the Institute of Earth Systems, our research has demonstrated that increasing aridity and heat are already undermining local agricultural productivity, with serious consequences for the economic viability of farming in parts of the islands. This is not only a problem for farmers but also a warning about our food security, land use, and the future of rural landscapes in Malta. Our research further shows how difficult it is for certain groups of farmers to adapt to these changes.
Health is another area where the climate story is becoming harder to ignore. Studies conducted in Malta have shown a strong link between cooler temperatures and respiratory mortality, a finding that reminds us that climate-health relationships are complex and do not lend themselves to simple explanations. But that should not calm anyone into complacency about rising heat. A hotter climate still means more frequent heatwaves, more tropical nights, greater physical stress on vulnerable groups, and more pressure on our utility services, homes, hospitals and care systems. In a built-up island environment, where some neighbourhoods trap heat and night-time relief is limited, these dangers are likely to intensify.
What is striking about the WMO report is how seamlessly the global and local evidence now fit together. That is why climate science in Malta matters so much. It is not enough to repeat global warnings. We need to interpret what those warnings mean here, in the specific conditions of the Maltese Islands. We need to continue connecting global heating with local vulnerability, and long-term climate trends with the impacts people are already starting to feel. Our work on adaptation is becoming more important by the year.
We write this not to alarm, but because honest assessment is the only foundation for effective action. The data now leaves us with less room for ambiguity, and, paradoxically, that clarity is something we can work with. Malta has navigated difficult constraints before. The question is whether we treat this one with the seriousness it has earned. Unless adaptation, planning and public policy begin to move with greater urgency, today’s warnings will soon read less like forecasts and more like missed chances. The National Climate Council and the Climate Action Authority are committed to assisting, leading, and collaborating with everyone, including the private sector, to facilitate the necessary transitions and prioritise climate action in everyday decision-making. This approach ensures we seize every opportunity to drive meaningful change.
Prof. Charles Galdies is an academic and a member of the National Climate Council and Ing. Abigail Cutajar is the Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Action Authority.
